Happy Labor Day! While in 1882, this day was celebrated by the Central Labor Union as a day off for the “working man”, today it is celebrated by many as the symbolic end of summer. For the Zohner’s, it’s the day that we went to Lagoon.
Holly has been wanting to take the kids to Lagoon for a few years. I always felt that they were too little to enjoy it and didn’t want to spend a small fortune on a day at the amusement park. This year though, Holly got some discount passes through her work. Hannah is now 2 and Alex is 3; that’s old enough to go on kiddie rides. There was no excuse not to go.
We arrived about 30 minutes before the park opened so we ended up waiting. It was fine though because we had virtually no wait times for the first few hours. I was amazed that the park wasn’t busier than it was.
We originally intended on letting the kids go on the kiddie rides to start with since they’re not too scary. (We learned our lesson at Disneyland by taking Emma on Space Mountain right off the bat. She didn’t want to ride anything else for hours.) Unfortunately, the kiddie rides were all still closed so we headed to Pioneer Village. There was no wait time on the Log Flume so Holly went on it with Emma while I stayed with the other kids. (We didn’t realize that we could take them on it until later in the day.) Emma seemed to really enjoy the ride and wanted to go on it again. So many rides, so little time…
Next up was Rattlesnake Rapids. This one scared Emma to begin with. It’s named after a dangerous snake so why would the ride itself be safe? That’s some sound logic. We finally convinced her that it wasn’t full of rattlesnakes and loaded everyone into one of the “rafts”. Hannah and Alex weren’t quite sure what to think of things which turned out to be a common theme for the day. Just when they seemed to begin enjoying themselves, we hit the rapids. All of a sudden, Alex decided that it would be a good idea to sit in my lap. I put him between Holly and myself which was good until he saw the waterfall. He jumped up and ran to the other side of the raft only to get drenched as we rotated under the falling water. After the ride was over, he said that he had fun and Hannah seemed a bit confused by the experience. Emma loved it. She wanted to go on it over and over but there was still so much to see.
After we were finished with Pioneer Village, the kids decided that the Tidal Wave looked like a good idea. I remember being a kid and having my parents drag me onto that “Pirate Ship of Death”. I told Holly that this is the ride that will cause screaming. I was right. I think that Alex was more in shock than anything. Hannah on the other hand was terrified. I think that her heart may have stopped from fear but the motion of the ride started it again. She was crying so hard that she didn’t shut her mouth for the duration of the ride. Consequently, she ended up slobbering all over my hand. I guess that’s my penalty for taking her on a ride that I knew would traumatize her. (Note to self: Hannah doesn’t like car washes or the Tidal Wave.)
After the horrific events that transpired on the Tidal Wave, Holly figured that we should let the kids go on something easy. To Kiddieland!
Alex loved going on the rides with his big sister. They even went on some that I was a bit surprised with like Dinosaur Drop. (It takes you high in the air, then drops you. How terrifying is that?) I think that Hannah was too traumatized to enjoy much. She cried on pretty much everything that we put her on until she went on the bumper cars.
I’ve always liked the bumper cars. I remember as a kid running to get back in line as soon as the ride ended. Apparently my children have this same affection for them. Why are these things so hard to drive though? Alex managed to do perfect donuts for five minutes while Emma would hit the wall, spin a donut, then hit the wall again. Hannah on the other hand was cruising around like she’d been driving her whole life. That is, until she hit the wall. Then she did a few donuts and came back cruising with a huge grin on her face. All three kids were sad to see this one end. I was too. It was fun watching them have fun.
Holly took the kids on the kids on the Carousel while I finished eating my lunch. Alex and Hannah loved it. We actually ended up riding it a second time and, if Alex had any say in the matter, we would have ridden it a third, and probably fourth, time.
We hit a few other rides like the train, Musicland USA, and the Terror Ride. There isn’t much to say about these. They were pretty predictable as far as the kids go. I do have to mention though that I took Emma on the Screamer. She didn’t realize that it went upside down. If she did, I don’t think that she would have gone. Since she went into it blindly though, she actually had a lot of fun. She was giggling the whole time. I think that it was one of her favorite rides of the day.
Because we had the small kids, there were no roller coasters ridden today. This made me sad. 
However, I know that the kids all really enjoyed themselves and that’s the main reason that we went. Next time we go though, Emma is going to ride the Colossus with me whether she wants to or not. I think that she owes me. 
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I had a fun time with you guys. Maybe when we go back in a couple years, we can hit Lagoon-A-Beach and some rollercoasters!
/
Holly, how is school going?
The first semister is usually the worst.
Thinking about you,
emmy